Lorenzo's Oil
Thetrical release poster
Directed by	George Miller
Produced by	George Miller Doug Mitchell
Written by	George Miller Nick Enright
Starring	Nick Nolte Susan Sarandon Peter Ustinov
Music by	Willie Thurlow (theme from Lorenzo's Oil) James Horner (Universal logo only)
Cinematography	John Seale
Editing by	Marcus D'Arcy Richard Francis-Bruce
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	December 30, 1992
Running time	129 mins
Country	United States
Language	English Italian
Budget	$30,000,000 (estimated)+ $90,000 from NBC

Lorenzo's Oil is an Academy Award–nominated 1992 drama film directed by George Miller. It is based on the true story of Augusto and Michaela Odone, two parents in a relentless search for a cure for their son Lorenzo's adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD).

[edit] Plot

Failing to find a doctor capable of treating their young son Lorenzo's rare disease, Augusto and Michaela Odone sought their own cure. They set out on a mission to find a treatment to save their child. In their quest, the Odones clashed with doctors, scientists, and support groups, who were skeptical that anything could be done about ALD, much less by laypeople. But they persisted, setting up camp in medical libraries, reviewing animal experiments, badgering researchers, questioning top doctors all over the world, and even organizing an international symposium about the disease. Despite dead ends of research, the horror of watching their son's health decline, and being surrounded by skeptics (including the coordinators of the support group they attended), they persisted until they finally hit upon a therapy involving adding a certain kind of oil (actually an oil containing two specific long chain fatty acids, both isolated from olive oil) to their son's diet. They contacted over 100 firms around the world until they found an elderly British chemist working for Croda International who was willing to take on the challenge of distilling the proper formula. It proved successful in normalizing the accumulation of the very long chain fatty acids in the brain that had been causing their son's steady decline, thereby halting the progression of the disease. There was still a great deal of neurological damage remaining which could not be reversed until new treatments were found to regenerate the myelin sheath (a lipid insulator) around the nerves.

The film ends with Lorenzo at the age of 14 showing definite improvement (he could swallow for himself and answer yes or no questions by blinking) but indicating more medical research is still needed. The end credits of the film note that Lorenzo also regained his sight and was learning to use a computer.

[edit] Postscript and Medical Criticism

The actual Lorenzo Odone was able to communicate using modified sign language. Augusto Odone went on to receive an honorary medical degree from the University of Stirling. Lorenzo died on May 30, 2008 at the age of 30 from aspiration pneumonia, brought about by food becoming stuck in his lungs. Aspiration pneumonia is a common cause of death in patients with severe neurologic disease. Lorenzo's oil has been evaluated by several researchers and some have found the oil to have some effect on the progress of the disease, but the results have been mixed at best,^[1] The treatment is still being investigated in clinical trials for adrenomyeloneuropathy,^[2] and only in asymptomatic males with the gene for cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy.^[3] Lorenzo's oil is thought to have no effect on symptomatic patients like Lorenzo.^[4] A review of this film by Hugo Moser, a noted researcher of adrenoleukodystrophy (and who is the basis for the film's character, Gus Nikolais) stated that the potential benefits of this treatment were exaggerated in this film.^[5] But in 2004 the BBC reported that in a ten-year study directed by Dr. Moser himself, Lorenzo's Oil showed a significant preventative effect: 83 of 120 boys given the oil, who had the ALD gene but had not yet developed the symptoms were still free of the disease. "According to Dr Moser taking the oil reduced the chance of getting the disease by half," while Glenn Stafford, the first asymptomatic patient to be put on the oil was then now 21 years old and fully fit.^[6]

[edit] Cast

• Nick Nolte as Augusto Odone
• Susan Sarandon as Michaela Odone (nominated for Best Actress Oscar)
• Peter Ustinov as Prof. Gus Nikolais
• Kathleen Wilhoite as Deirdre Murphy
• Gerry Bamman as Dr. Judalon
• Margo Martindale as Wendy Gimble
• James Rebhorn as Ellard Muscatine
• Ann Hearn as Loretta Muscatine
• Maduka Steady as Omuori
• Mary Wakio as Comorian Teacher
• Don Suddaby as himself
• Colin Ward as Jake Gimble
• Latanya Richardson as Nurse Ruth
• Jennifer Dundas as Nurse Nancy Jo
• William Cameron as Pellerman
• Jimmy Clark as Janitor Doan
• Laura Linney as Young Teacher

[edit] Actors as Lorenzo Odone

• Billy Amman
• Noah Banks
• Elizabeth Daily (voice, some shots only)
• Zack O'Malley Greenburg (main)
• Michael Haider
• Cristin Woodworth

[edit] Awards

Lorenzo's Oil was nominated twice at the 65th Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Susan Sarandon) and Best Original Screenplay (George Miller & Nick Enright).

Susan Sarandon was also nominated for Best Actress at the 50th Golden Globe Awards.

The film was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay Written Directly for the screen at the WGA Awards.

[edit] Reception

Lorenzo's Oil was acclaimed by critics, and currently holds a 91% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave it four out of four stars and called it an "immensely moving and challenging movie". He added, "it was impossible not to get swept up in it" and James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave it three out of four stars and claimed "it was about the war for knowledge and the victory of hope through perseverance."

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Lorenzo's Oil (film) at the Internet Movie Database
• Lorenzo's Oil (film) at Allmovie
• Lorenzo's Oil (film) at Rotten Tomatoes